Artificial intelligence experts normally approach this problem by assuming that the inner state of a person (or an “agent” in AI parlance) can be described in terms of beliefs, desires and goals. Since these goals determine an agent’s actions, it should then to be possible to use this knowledge to make predictions about the agent’s future actions.

Parunak claims to have used these ideas with some success in making predictions about future behaviour. He says his simulation works in relatively complex environments, making predictions in real-time.

In war-game scenarios, for example, Parunak says his model can successfully detect players’ emotions , and then predict future actions accordingly. He believes the technique could one day be applied to predict the behaviour of adversaries in military combat situations, competitive business tactics, and even multiplayer computer games.

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The patent application gives an interesting insight into DARPA’s goals. The agency has pumped a lot of money into AI in recent years without reaping major rewards. One day computers may find a way to accurately second-guess humans, but I suspect we may have to wait a little longer yet.

Quantum-number generator

If you want to send a perfectly secure message you may want to generate a completely random cipher to encrypt your data. But generating truly random numbers using computer algorithms is difficult, and hidden patterns in sequences of supposedly random numbers can be used to by a determined eavesdropper to decipher the message.

So in recent years, physicists have turned to the quantum world. For example, just send a single photon through a beam splitter with two paths and there is no way to know which path the photon will end up taking. This method can be used to generate binary 1s and 0s and at least one company makes a commercial random number generator that works this way.

But the problem, says Paul Kwiat, a quantum physicist at the University of Illinois in Urbana, US, is that each photon produces only one random bit. So the rate at which you can generate random numbers is severely limited.

He and his colleagues say a better, and simpler, way is to generate photons using some random process and record the time each takes to arrive at a detector. This time figure can then be converted into digits to create a random number. In this way, a single photon can generate as many random digits as there are significant figures in the time measurement.

Hive-beetle trap

“The small hive beetle is an exotic pest that originates from South Africa and was found in Florida in 1998. It has now spread throughout the eastern and mid-western United States, causing considerable damage to honey bee colonies.”

Most of the damage is done by the beetles’ larvae, which feed on honey and pollen. Larval excrement also causes honey to ferment, making it inedible to bees. In highly infested colonies where larval feeding is extensive, bees tend to leave, causing the hive populations to collapse.

So, Teal and colleagues have designed a trap to beat the beetle&colon; a box that sits at the bottom of the hive covered with a mesh that is large enough to allow beetles through, but prevents bees from entering. The trap contains pollen and honey sprinkled with yeast that causes it to ferment, releasing smells that attract the beetles, which then get stuck inside.

The Florida team says that although the trap may not eradicate hive beetles, it should allow bee keepers to control their numbers, and reduce damage.